Mystery and Suspense… with a touch of romance

Hello Readers! It's my pleasure today to welcome back friend, fellow author, and Story Empire contributer, C. S. Boyack. He has a brand-new book titled The Yak Guy Project. And today he's going to give us a writing lesson. It's a pleasure to host you today, Craig! Thanks for inviting me over today. One of … Continue reading A Writing Lesson from C. S. Boyack

Hello Readers. Yes, I've been silent for a while (which seems to be my norm). Wish I could say it's because I've been doing tons of writing, but sadly thats not the case. However, I am happy to announce that my novel Unknown Reasons is part of Felony Fiction's May Book Fair along with six … Continue reading Felony Fiction Book Fair

IN THE AUTHOR’S WORDS:

What if you had all the time in the world?

Thirteen authors answer that question with short stories about time travel. Go back in time to right a wrong, forward to see the future. No jump is too large, no method unfeasible, no lesson beyond learning.

• Visit the past to learn a family secret.
• See the formation of a future dictatorship. • Assume responsibility for weaving the fabric of…

Happy Monday! I'm excited to welcome back friend and fellow author Staci Troilo talking about her latest novella, Gamble. This is the second book in her Nightforce Security Series and released last Friday. She's been a busy lady so far this year! Staci, it's always a pleasure to host you. Take it away... Hi, everybody. … Continue reading Introducing Gamble’s Villains

Making choices self-publishing choices can feel like throwing darts blindfolded. With all the changes to publishing in the last decade or so it gets even more confusing. For instance, now there are opportunities with hybrid publishers which can open more doors for authors and leave them more perplexed than ever.

When indie-publishing really took off, the options were traditional publishing or self-publishing either through a vanity publisher or using Createspace and other such options. Now, Ingram and other distributors offer the opportunity for availability in their catalogs but that doesn’t get you to bookstore shelves. True distribution to bookstores is usually not available for indie authors even if you choose to make the book returnable and offer the standard 55% wholesale discount. Looking at it that way, making a book non-returnable and only offering 30% discount is much more profitable and allows authors to price print books competitively.

Hi, gang. Craig here again. I’m noticing that my posts tend to be more open ended than the other authors here. Part of that is because there are so many different methods to produce a good story. I like to discuss things and present options. This time the topic is characters.

I’ve been told I write good characters. (Both my fans said so.) I’m also on record as saying the character comes to me during the first draft more than any other time. There is a method to plotting a good character arc though. Readers expect the character to evolve over the course of the story. Imagine taking a conservative or a liberal, and making them accept some opposing points of view to get through whatever hellish torture you have planned for them. This evolution is the character arc.

Hello everyone! The first Friday of each month, Story Empire offers a fiction prompt. Staci Troilo had this month's prompt and I decided to participate. My story is based on the word, telescope. To see the full prompt, click here. And now, here is my story: Erin Daniels watched the full moon rise over the … Continue reading Eclipse

Hello everyone! I'm excited to have friend and fellow author Mae Clair here today with the cover reveal for her upcoming release, Cusp of Night. This is the first book in her new Hodes Hill series. I, for one, can't wait to read the book! And now, without further ado, Mae will tell you all … Continue reading Cover Reveal – Cusp of Night by Mae Clair

Ciao, SEers. Yep, I went the cheesy-route in the title. Hopefully Elizabeth Barrett Browning doesn’t mind me manipulating her masterpiece.

It’s February, the month of love. (If you subscribe to that, which I kind of don’t. I’m a romantic, so I think love is important all the time.)

Anyway, today I want to talk about word counts in fiction. Specifically, definitions of categories, ranges of words, and genre norms.

Word counts are important for both publishing and contest submissions. But breaking things down into categories is always easier than speaking in great yet nebulous generalities. So that’s what publishers did. When people talk about types of fiction, these are the categories and an estimated range of word counts assigned to them.